Monthly Archives: July 2011

The first two volumes of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is probably my favourite metafictional comic, outside of Grant Morrison. The idea of Victorian fiction stars forming a team to combat the supernatural is just too great a premise to miss out on, especially for me. At first it was simple name recognition. Most of the characters I had encountered in one form or another, thanks to the numerous movies and reinterpretations of those 100 year old works. When I got a hold of it, I realized what Alan Moore had done. It was the literal opposite of his previous work. Instead of forcing the real world upon fictional characters, he was making fiction the real world. That revelation immediately pushed the League into my list of top comics.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1969 expands on that premise but in doing so, reveals its fundamental flaw: Continuity. Yes, the flaw that plagues superhero comics, the one that alienates new readers and contributes to overall confusion is the star of this Alan Moore epic. Read the rest of this entry →

And so begins Spider-Island! Issue 666, having nothing to do with devil, is the prelude to the biggest Spider-Man event since One More Day. Spider-Man is working overtime trying to protect New York, work with the Fantastic Four and the New Avengers, all the while keeping a job in a science lab and a girlfriend. Despite the pressure building on the wall crawler, Peter Parker seems to be having fun, though he fails to notice how those close to him are gaining the same powers as him.

I really used to like Mark Millar. He was bombastic, exciting, and while you wouldn’t want his characters as a friend, you knew you wanted to follow them. I hear a lot of criticism about what he’s done, and a lot of it is true, but Millar still managed to make me feel exhilarated at one point. I remember reading the Ultimates during the trial of the Hulk. The scene where Nick Fury out-right lies to Bruce Banner that he’s been saved and then dumps him in the middle of the ocean to die is probably still one of my favourite moments in comics history. It made me pity the Hulk, a character who up until this point had been the creation of a vengeful and irresponsible scientist bent on his own destruction and the destruction of others.

Despite exploding upon his attempt to recreate his Flash powers, Barry Allen lives long enough to try again. This time it doesn’t result in a hilarious self-deprecating moment and Allen’s powers return. Problem solved, the Flash and Thomas Wayne Batman decide to search for Superman with the hopes that he can shift the tides in the crumbling world of Flashpoint.

We’re more than halfway through this supposedly world shattering series, and it seems we’re only starting to get to the main plot. We can see an inkling of an army being built and a lot of character development, but this should not be happening during the third issue. Read the rest of this entry →

Blocked from finishing investigation, Nelson Tethers (not to mention the player) was left with a shock at the end of the first Puzzle Agent. The story stopped right as it shifted from quirky to insane and pushed towards a much larger mystery hidden in that quiet Minnesota town. I can promise you the insanity continues in Puzzle Agent 2, a game that improves on its predecessor as you crawl deeper into the madness. Read the rest of this entry →